Taskmaster

Taskmaster

A stop hook that prevents the agent from stopping prematurely. When a response finishes and the agent is about to stop, this hook intercepts and prompts it to re-examine whether all work is truly done.

How It Works

1. Agent tries to stop — the stop hook fires.
2. The hook checks for incomplete signals (pending tasks, recent errors, blind spots in infra/config work — see reason text in check-completion.sh).
3. Agent is prompted to verify: original requests addressed, plan steps completed, tasks resolved, errors fixed, no loose ends.
4. If work remains, the agent continues. If truly done, it confirms and the hook allows the stop on the next cycle.

Loop Protection

A session-scoped counter limits continuations to 10 by default. Set TASKMASTER_MAX environment variable to change:

export TASKMASTER_MAX=20  # allow up to 20 continuations
export TASKMASTER_MAX=0   # infinite — never cap (relies on stop_hook_active check only)

Setup

The hook must be registered in ~/.claude/settings.json:

{
  "hooks": {
    "Stop": [
      {
        "hooks": [
          {
            "type": "command",
            "command": "$HOME/.claude/skills/taskmaster/hooks/check-completion.sh",
            "timeout": 10
          }
        ]
      }
    ]
  }
}

Disabling

To temporarily disable, either:

• Remove or comment out the Stop hook in ~/.claude/settings.json
• Set TASKMASTER_MAX=1 to allow only one continuation check

Lighter Alternative: /goal (Claude Code 2.1.139+)

For one-shot autonomous loops where you don't need taskmaster's full plan + task list + beads + worktree + AI-verify gating, use the built-in /goal command instead:

/goal all CI checks green and all worktrees pushed

/goal sets a single completion condition and Claude keeps working across turns until it's met. Useful when:

• You want a specific exit criterion, not "no incomplete signals"
• The work is bounded (one feature, one bug, one cleanup) and beads/worktree state doesn't matter
• You want the agent to stop the moment the goal is met, even if other in_progress beads exist

Use taskmaster (this skill, always-on Stop hook) when:

• Multi-step plans, multiple beads, multiple worktrees in flight
• You want adjacent-safety gating (WORKTREE_BLOCK, AI_VERIFY_BLOCK, BEADS_BLOCK)
• The "done" condition is fuzzy ("ship the feature properly")

The two compose: a /goal session still runs through taskmaster's Stop hook, so worktree/AI-verify safety still applies even when goal-driven.